Swing and a Miss
by BandGeek99
Summary: Sora invites Tai over to watch a zombie movie. Things do not go as she would have liked them to. Sort of Taiora.


_It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. Real life is a priority; fanfiction, however, is not. Junior year is over and done with; my exboyfriend and I have finally made up and we're friends again. My best friends all graduated. It's just been a fun summer, so I wanted to write this._

_I don't own, you don't sue._

-

Zombie movies are never more awkward when I say 'Oh, by the way, Tai is coming over so we can watch zombie movies' and my father and mother decide to just sit down on the couch and not get up, because Dad doesn't think I ought to date Tai and my mom is... well, she is how she is.

_So it looks like work is going to let me out on time after all. I'll be over soonish_, the text message reads.

_K. Just so you know, my parents are downstairs so you may not wanna say anything stupid. Just let yourself in when you get here, the front door's unlocked._ I feel like such an idiot, such a loser, having to reply this way. But I do. Because my parents suck and they don't get that when Sora says 'Oh, I'm having a boy over,' that's their cue to leave. Not sit around and give said boy surly looks when he comes in... LEAVE.

And of course, they do the opposite of what they should.

Tai lets himself in through the front door and takes off his shoes. He is still in his khakis and white dress shirt, although he's ditched his tie in the car. In his hands are a bag of M&Ms and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. He looks bewildered that both of my parents are sitting there.

"Hi, Tai," I say, glancing up from the movie temporarily. "Come on in, have a seat."

He doesn't smile, which is weird, but waves silently at my dad and mom. He does come in and sit down, then puts his M&Ms down on the coffee table. He opens his soda...

...and it sprays everywhere.

He looks positively bewildered and I just start laughing. "Way to go, Tai!" I say as I sit up and meander to the kitchen. "Lemme get you a dishcloth."

Tai is frantically trying to mop up the soda with his hands, much to my family's amusement, and gives me the most relieved face I've ever seen when I throw him the dish towel.

"Well, Tai," my father says, smirking. "You certainly know how to make an entrance."

Tai is blushing and he nods embarrassedly. "You can say that. Sorry, guys."

"Don't worry about it," I chirp, sitting back in the corner of the sectional.

The movie carries on. People are bitten. Some are eaten. Others turn into zombies. Zombie Killer Guy decides he's going to go find his wife and kid in the city. City is overrun by zombies. Cliffhanger for the sequel.

Tai and I end up starting the next movie and halfway through, my parents decide they're going to bed. He doesn't move, and neither do I, just continue watching till the end.

A character, the only Asian guy in the movie, decides to drive away out of the city in a red Dodge Challenger, blasting some old classic rock music.

"I can't believe they broke the windows on that Dodge," Tai moans.

"Relax, it's fiction."

"But they filmed with a real car!" he whines.

I roll my eyes. The secret car guy inside of Taichi rears his ugly head again. "It's a car, relax!"

"But it's a nice car! And look at that, do you know what kind of burnouts you can do on that?" He gestures wildly at the screen.

"I don't even know what a burnout is," I remind him.

His jaw is agape as he scrambles to find his cell phone. "Oh, no," he says, "we're so watching some now. Check this out!" He opens up a video on the internet, holding his phone out to me so I can watch. "This guy does them all the time, it's really spectacular." He explains the mechanics of a burnout to me as I watch the tires on the little screen.

I look up just to watch his face as he talks about his secret passion. His big brown eyes are huge and practically sparkling as he goes on and on. It's adorable. Just... adorable.

He falls silent and gets sucked into the video and I take that as a cue to stand up. I'm getting all embarrassed just sitting here with him.

Tai's already kissed me twice, y'know. Once over the summer, after we'd been at Mimi's birthday party all day, he walked me out to my car. He almost kissed me then and there, for the sake of spontaneity he claimed, but ended up sneaking over and helping me sneak out of my apartment in the middle of the night and kissing me then.

He kissed me again a week ago, when I gave him a ride home from work. I pulled up in front of his building and he sat there with me for a few minutes, not saying anything, but eventually leaning over and kissing me in the front seat while Matson Jones played over the stereo in my car.

Yeah, I know, it was a bad idea. Especially because I like him so much. But it happened. And now I have to tell him I like him before I let it happen again.

Because Tai? His exact words to me afterwards were "Let me know if you ever wanna try this again." And then he smiled that big doofus smile of his and who was I to say, "no"?

I leave Tai in my living room and meander to the kitchen, asking him if he wants a glass of water while I pour one for myself. He declines, but gets up and follows me anyway.

He tells me about soccer and the guys on his team and I listen intently. I tell him how things on the tennis team are, we talk about our classes, and he makes a joke at my expense and I blush. Suddenly, he is very close to me and leaning in, head tilting-

I put my hands on his shoulders and gently push him away. "Wait," I tell him. "I don't know if this is such a good idea, because I really, really like you, I really do..."

"Ah," he says knowingly, nodding. "Alright then." And he doesn't kiss me.

We stand awkwardly for a moment in my kitchen until he checks his cell phone and says, "I have a curfew. I should head out."

"Of course," I say, smiling, and I walk him out the door, down the hall, and down to the front of the building. We say our goodbyes and I watch him walk out to his little grey sedan and drive away.

I silently go back to my apartment, into my bedroom, and flop onto my bed.

Oh.


End file.
